The Summit- review of the April 6 sailing

[IandY]

I’m posting this here so that people may ask questions or comment. I'll try to be brief and succinct yet I'm not sure that's possible. We’ve just returned from the April 6 sailing of the Summit out of San Juan and here’s some personal observations/ opinions. I’ll try to be fair and honest and just a little critical. Firstly, we are a family of 4, mom and dad 50 (ish), son age 11 and daughter 10. This was the kids first Celebrity experience and it was our 5th . We’ve also been on two RCL cruises, once on the Radiance and once on its sister ship, the Serenade. We have not been on any other cruise line other than Celebrity or Royal Caribbean. We chose this cruise mostly for the itinerary (and we scored a great price!)

First, embarking. Our flight touched down in San Juan around 2:10, we were at the pier by 3:00 and on this ship 20 minutes later. Things could not have been easier and as well, the bags were to our room within 45 minutes. The glass of Champagne offered when we stepped on board is always a nice touch.

Our room was 8181, a Family Veranda aft cabin on the port side. To quote our room steward, “we had the best cabin on the ship”. Other than the suites I think he may have been right! The balcony was terrific. We did not notice any cigarette smoke from the Sunset Bar just two decks above. Yes things may have been a little “tired” in places but then again, I’m not quite as shiny and new as I was 12 years ago :) . Any wear we noticed was/ is not worth noting and certainly did not detract from our cruise experience.

Fellow passengers- as mentioned, we’re 50 ish. That said, we have no problem staying up past midnight. I have to admit that the ship had a sleepy feel to it after 10:30 when the second show was over. Some of the lounges were empty or close to it. There were very few kids on board, maybe 40 or 50? Our kids still enjoyed the Fun Factory quite a bit but there were times when it was just them and maybe one or two others.

Crew- I’ve never been on a cruise were I’ve crossed paths with the Captain so often! At least 7 or 8 times and each time he made sure to ask if we were enjoying our experience. He must have had a twin! As for the rest or the crew including the officers, top notch across the board. Always a smile, always helpful. The cruise activities staff were excellent, we tried to participate in as many activities as we could, including an embarrassing loss to the officers in the pool volleyball game :(.

The food was OK for us, some great, some not so much. Probably the main dining room was where we experienced the worst. A few of the things ordered were complete misses. It is true the Waterfall Cafe was a challenge and very poorly laid out. It was at times extremely busy, especially at peak times during the morning. That said, we quickly discovered the tricks. There were stations for poached eggs , pizza, pasta, and at the back pancakes/ waffles/ sandwich’s/ nachos (depending on time of day). We used those more often than not as they had smaller lines and fresher food. Off course , by the pool was the always busy grill for hamburgers which we did our best to avoid. We did notice less variety on this ship than on the RCL cruises we’ve been on. We like different ethnic foods and the selection for that on the Summit was limited. Bistro on Five was well worth the extra $5.00, excellent flavours, service and a quiet place to go. We did not do any of the other specialty dining...extra $80 bucks or whatever for the two of us...forget that!

As far as the live entertainment went, we thought all of the acts about the ship were good to excellent, especially the party band Ecstacy. If you like to dance, don’t miss the White out party by the pool, I think it was the 3rd night and it was especially fun. We’re not really show people but the few we did go to were good, the ships singers/ dancers were quite talented actually (we’re just not so much into the “tribute to...” stuff). My young son and I saw the comedian and he was quite good, and clean, my son couldn’t wait to retell the jokes to his mother.

Now for the ship. Sorry, just no “Wow” factor for me, especially compared to the Radiance or Serenade. I wish there was more light and views of the sea. Some of the public spaces seemed dark and un-inviting. Maybe that’s why they were empty. For instance, to go to Guest Services or the Excursion desk on Deck 3 seemed like going into the basement at home, albeit on a fancy staircase. The worst for me was the Wine Cellar which was just all wrong. Same for Michaels Club, not at all welcoming. We did like the Rendezvous Lounge, the Revelations Lounge was very nice and the Martini Bar was the best place to people watch. I really enjoyed Cafe al Bacio as a place to enjoy an Americano and read a book, it was a bright, open space. The pool deck was a lot of fun, and of course there were many chair hogs on the first sea day. The Sunset Bar was a favourite of ours except for the smoking. All and all, we felt the ship was well looked after and clean.

Maybe I’ve gone on too long? We had a great cruise, enjoyed ourselves immensely and will certainly cruise Celebrity again. I’ll do my best to respond if you have questions.

[Lady Arwen]

Thank you for your honest review. I appreciate you sharing your experience on the Summit. Sounds like you had a lovely cruise. We'll be enjoying the Summit next Saturday!

[IandY]

Congrats and have a fantastic time! You're almost there.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[ariawoman]

Thanks for your review. If you enjoyed yourself overall, i'd say defintely try one of X's S class ships. Beautiful ships, very nicely laid out (in my opinion) and pretty bright all around aside from some places which aren't supposed to be.

 

I'll be boarding the Summit in October, and well, I don't expect to be wowed by the ship, but i hope to still be wowed by the overall celebrity experience as I have been on the S class.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your review.

 

Keith

[Ugaaucruisers]

On the Summit how can you tell if the bed is near the balcony or bath? All cabins seem to have a sofa bed in them.

Thanks.

[ICANDIGIT]

Thank you for taking your time to post the review. We will be on the Summit this Sat for 16 days, Looking forward to having a good time.

Mike

[ariawoman]

Thank you for taking your time to post the review. We will be on the Summit this Sat for 16 days, Looking forward to having a good time.

Mike

 

Ok I have to admit - i saw your screen name and at first read it as "I can digit". And I was like, huh? :-)

 

I thought somehow you were oddly proud of your fingers :-)

 

Sorry for the off topic but, I had to comment on my own absurdity.

[mgmigs]

Who is the captain right now? Also do you know who the captains club hostess is right now?

[cocobakerchica]

Thank you for your review. I'm very familiar with the Summit, so the "wow" factor no longer applies since she's an old friend(except for the perpetual wow of stepping onto a cruise ship. That will never go away.);):D. I'll be on her very very soon, so your review whets my appetite for sailing even more!

[IandY]

Who is the captain right now? Also do you know who the captains club hostess is right

 

Sorry, not sure who the captains club hostess is but the captain is

Captain-Leonardos Palaiokrassas

[Kate45]

to cruisechick, I can't believe how many Celebrity cruises you have been on! We are doing the Summit (our first X cruise) in November. We have done 3 Princess cruises. How do you think they compare?

[SNJCruisers]

Looking forward to my first X cruise in almost 20 years in October on the Summit. A few questions.....with regards to cooked to order items in the buffet area. At breakfast, you mention a waffle and pancake section in the back and I assume there are obviously omelet stations. Are there more than one? Did you go to the MDR for breakfast and are there any items there such as eggs benedict that you can't get at the buffet? At lunchtime, there are both cooked to order pasta as well as cooked to order wok stations, right? As you can tell, I only like buffets to get side dishes for my cooked to order entree, whatever it may be.

After 1030 at night, besides the Martini Bar, what else is there to do? Going to piano bars and comedy clubs on Carnival and RCI have been my normal entertainment in the past and it looks like on my next two cruises on X, the Premium drinks package may have to be a substitute for it. (not a fan of the cabaret style shows) Thanks.

[Tiggertastic]

thanks for the review, no you didn't go on too long, it was nice to get a summary in a few minutes of reading. We've only done the Soltice size ships so you gave me an idea of what it would be like to get on another type.

 

Sorry you didnlt feel it had the RCCL sparkle, bit try the soltice ones, they do compare but I completely agree about Michaels club being dark - glad they made it into a pub on some of the newer ones

[IandY]

thanks for the review, no you didn't go on too long, it was nice to get a summary in a few minutes of reading. We've only done the Soltice size ships so you gave me an idea of what it would be like to get on another type.

 

Sorry you didnlt feel it had the RCCL sparkle, bit try the soltice ones, they do compare but I completely agree about Michaels club being dark - glad they made it into a pub on some of the newer ones

 

Thanks. We will certainly try the Solstice class, I was actually looking for that but there were none of this class out of San Juan which was what we were looking for. Believe me, we still had a great cruise, I just missed the Lobby Bar, Schooner Bar and Singapore Slings from the Radiance, they were amazing spots to hang out.

[IandY]

Looking forward to my first X cruise in almost 20 years in October on the Summit. A few questions.....with regards to cooked to order items in the buffet area. At breakfast, you mention a waffle and pancake section in the back and I assume there are obviously omelet stations. Are there more than one? Did you go to the MDR for breakfast and are there any items there such as eggs benedict that you can't get at the buffet? At lunchtime, there are both cooked to order pasta as well as cooked to order wok stations, right? As you can tell, I only like buffets to get side dishes for my cooked to order entree, whatever it may be.

After 1030 at night, besides the Martini Bar, what else is there to do? Going to piano bars and comedy clubs on Carnival and RCI have been my normal entertainment in the past and it looks like on my next two cruises on X, the Premium drinks package may have to be a substitute for it. (not a fan of the cabaret style shows) Thanks.

I’ll do my best with your questions. I should first try to describe the buffet area. Closest to mid-ship, on both the port and starboard side would be the “main” area of the buffet. On each side the same items were offered. This was the most congested area, especially at breakfast, and was also the area we did our best to avoid. I can’t recall if the omelette station was part of this, I don’t think so but to answer your question, no, there would be/ was only one. No, we did not go to the MDR, we found the the poached eggs station on deck 10 most to our liking, it offered eggs Benedict, Scottish eggs etc and as well, offered bacon, ham, grilled tomato etc. The line up here was always short and it was a short walk from there to eat outside on the Sunset Bar deck. For lunch we did not see a Wok station. Yes, there was a pizza station that was always open as was the pasta station. The back station, for lunch, was always a deli like arrangement but you could also get a grilled steak sandwich or chicken along with fries, potato chips, salads. As well, I noticed one day one of the smaller stations had British type fair...Sheppards pie, Bangers and mash, Fish and chips. The main part of the buffet at lunch time offered quite a variety and at that time of the day was considerably less busy than the morning. Lastly, your 10:30 question. This was the challenge for us as well. We’re not into the shows much either but they were over by that time anyway. Basically, we just searched the ship to find were things were most active. Check out the daily to see where things may be going on. The White out party on the pool deck was the hi-lite for me but a few nights the disco (Revelations lounge) was busy , relatively speaking. Some of the lounges were basically empty in the evening, I did notice Michaels club was busy some nights but only with people watching sports, definitely not my thing. Hope I answered some of your questions.